When you are dealing with someone like Muhammad Ali and comparing him to today’s heavyweights in boxing, it is night and day.
Sure, heavyweights are much bigger and heavier than they were in Ali’s day.
Overall.
But George Foreman was a big heavyweight too and would have had some weight over current lineal heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk of today’s times.
So there is still a lot of similarities in comparing the two times for the division.
Heavyweights are not like the days of Ali, Foreman, Sonny Liston, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton and Joe Frazier’s days.
Muhammad Ali would have outboxed and landed so many combinations on someone as rigid as Anthony Joshua — he would not have known what hit him.
Tyson Fury would have struggled to land a glove on a smaller, hard to hit — maybe four-times faster Muhammad Ali.
Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley could not mix it in boxing ability at all, heart, speed or anything with Ali.
Maybe just a puncher’s chance each of them.
Moses Itauma would have been schooled in a few rounds by Ali.
Ali was as tough as they come and this was his second biggest strength after his speed — both of hand and foot.
Ali had the footspeed and handspeed of a middleweight in a heavyweight’s body but his durability would have easily dealt with anything Usyk landed.
Maybe, Usyk, if you are pushing it, could have won a round or two.
But Ali at his best was twice as fast as him, twice as tough as him and twice the better boxer technically than him.
Peppered him with the jab if he wanted and bamboozled him with combinations.
Ali would have toyed with Usyk and either took him into deep waters and drown him.
Or if he wanted to take him out of the equation early he would have lit him up with combinations sooner.
Forcing a referee stoppage before round 7 maybe.
All in all — Muhammad Ali would have beaten what is around today in heavyweight boxing easily.
Frank Sanchez, Jarrell Miller, Jared Anderson, Andy Ruiz, Joseph Parker and others?
Come on.
Ali would have made mince meat of them easy.
See our latest boxing news.